Americans like pick-up trucks. You probably already know this. In fact, Americans like them so much that the best-selling vehicle in the USA for the past 40 years is a truck – the Ford F-150.

Here’s another fact: The F Series family of trucks – of which the F-150 is a member and which includes the F-250, F-350, and F-450 – has been the biggest selling line of trucks in the US for the past 45 years and in 2021 Ford in the US sold an astonishing 726,000 of them.

That is a very big number, and the word ‘big’ nicely describes not only that sales figure, but the size of the trucks too. They are, as things in and from the US often seem to be, very large indeed.

Take the F-250 Platinum Crew Cab model, for example. Part of Ford’s Super Duty line of F-Series pick-ups, it is 6.76 metres long, over 2 metres in height and width (2.7 metres wide if you include the mirrors), and can weigh in (depending on engine choice) at over 3200kg.

Its maximum payload is over 1,360kg and it can tow, depending on the engine and the towing set-up (including heavy duty gooseneck or fifth-wheel hook-ups), anywhere from 5600kg to nearly 9000kg. Maximum Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) or Gross Combination Mass (GCM) – which is the maximum allowable combined weight of the truck and everything and everyone it is carrying and towing – ranges from 8,800kg all the way up to 19,700kg.

The engines that power these trucks are powerful sizeable too, of course – they have to be – and Ford makes sure there’s plenty of grunt under the bonnet in the form of a 6.2-litre petrol V8, a 7.3-litre petrol V8, or a 6.7-litre Power Stroke diesel V8.

Like we said, ‘big’ is the word to use here. ‘Luxurious’ works quite well too. If you’ve ever had the chance to see one up close, the cavernous interior of the F-250 Platinum – which is one of the top-spec models – is covered in nicely stitched leather and chock full of enough gadgetry, tech and safety features that it would make a European luxury sedan blush.

So, if you are looking for something that can haul some serious weight, and want to do that in serious style, then this could be the truck for you.

But where do you go in Australia to get your hands on something like the F-250?

The Gold Coast is home to one such place. Opened in 2019, the award-winning Tough Trucks dealership offers a range of Ford pick-up trucks. Those trucks include factory stock models such as the F-250 XLT, but also an Overland variant – that is fully prepped for those off-road, outback camping trips – and even the absolute workhorse/towing behemoth that is the F-450.

And Tough Trucks offers a range of services and products to support these vehicles. As well as the necessary importing and right-hand-drive conversion services, they can deliver bespoke customisation to the customers’ requests, as well as aftersales service and support and a vast number of accessories.

But Tough Trucks is really making its name thanks to the modified, performance variants of the trucks it offers.

Thanks to its partnership with the renowned SCA Performance outfit of Alabama in the US – for whom it is the Australasian distributor – Tough Trucks offers the high-end, modified and lifted performance trucks that SCA builds, most notably its signature Black Widow brand.

What does ‘Black Widow’ mean with regard to these trucks?

Let’s look at a 2022 F-250 Black Widow. On top of an already pretty comprehensive equipment list, there’s a 4-inch Suspension Lift System, 37-inch Mud or All-Terrain Tyres, 20-inch SCA Black Widow Wheels, Custom Stitched Headrests and Black Widow fittings and gauges, fender flares and, if optioned, Fox Coilover and rear shock upgrades, a Fox steering stabiliser upgrade, colour-matched hard lid for the tray, a heavy-duty trailer tow package, remote start system, a hood protector . . . the list goes on. But you get the idea – this is no ordinary pick-up.

SCA Performance create Black Widow modifications for the trucks of other manufacturers too, so while Tough Trucks focuses on importing the Fords, you can find a Chevy Silverado or Jeep Gladiator Black Widow edition here too, and if you already have a stock variant of one of those, then Tough Trucks can give it an in-house, full Black Widow upgrade treatment.

To top it all off, Tough Trucks’ vehicles are modified to right-hand-drive by Performax International, the company based in Gympie that has a reputation built on the quality of their conversion technology.

Being big, powerful, luxurious, and capable of doing the hard work asked of them, means these trucks don’t come cheap. For example, that F-250 Black Widow with all the trimmings comes in at a smidge under $220,000.

That is a lot of money, but there is, it seems, no shortage of customers.

“We currently have 130 deposits on new trucks and over 200 on order,” said Mark Ritson, founder and owner of Tough Trucks. “Of those, about 35 are Black Widows, and another 20 or so are the Overland builds.

“Our customers come from all over the country and if we could get more trucks faster, we could sell them.

“The demand is, in part, because of COVID and people wanting to see their own country more. They want the right tow vehicle for their caravan, and they know their GVMs [Gross Vehicle Mass], payload requirements, and so on. They want the stability on the road and to know that, legally, they can tow that weight without getting into strife. They are savvy buyers, and our trucks suit that market.

“We also have a lot of small business owners as customers. The trucks are over a tonne, so they are a commercial vehicle and customers can write the whole lot off and there’s no luxury car tax.”

VIDEO: TOUGH TRUCKS SHOWROOM TOUR

BUILDING THE BRAND

For Mark, establishing and building the Tough Trucks business and brand had its genesis, as many successful businesses do, in finding a solution to a problem.

An electrician by trade, he had moved from Melbourne to Queensland in 2008, establishing a successful electrical business over the next few years. It was on trips back to Victoria that his interest in the big American trucks was piqued.

He had been on the lookout for something which could haul his Malibu boat without difficulty and that would ensure a trip down south would be easy and comfortable.
“I needed a truck to tow my boat, and the Navarra, the HiLux, and the Ranger just weren’t big enough,” he said.

“Boats were getting bigger, and the cars weren’t getting any more powerful, and that’s when I went over to the States, found my first Dodge Ram and did the whole process myself of importing it and so on.”

Spotting a niche in the local market, Mark began importing the Dodge Rams, and what had begun as a search for a powerful and fit-for-purpose truck for his own needs blossomed into an increasingly busy and profitable enterprise.

By 2015, he was selling about 15 Dodge Rams per year, but then American Special Vehicles – a joint venture between Walkinshaw Automotive Group and Ateco Automotive – began to bring over the Dodge trucks officially and converting them to right-hand-drive.
“I thought that was going to be it for me because I wouldn’t be able to compete with the big boys,” said Mark.

But instead of writing off his importing venture as something that had run its course, Mark’s enthusiasm for what he was doing saw him swap over to the big Ford pick-ups and the securing of a partnership with SCA Performance as the Australasian distributor of their modified truck variants and accessories.

From there, things moved rapidly.

Setting up a couple of workshops for further modifications, fitting of accessories and servicing gave things a solid foundation, but with interest strong, and the deal with SCA Performance on the cards, a showroom quickly became a must-have consideration.

“We were doing the work on the trucks at another facility, but when we hooked up with SCA, I realised we needed the showroom,” said Mark.

And so, in 2019, Tough Trucks moved into a new, modern, plush home – with an exterior modelled on the desert geography of Arizona – on the Gold Coast’s Ferry Road, a hot spot for car dealerships and the home to, amongst others, Porsche and Bentley dealerships. A prime location.

While Tough Trucks’ modified and lifted Ford trucks come from SCA Performance, the team are trained to do the modifications locally if required.

That skill comes in handy. The industry is still grappling with long lead times for deliveries thanks to component supply delays, and that has meant the Tough Trucks team focuses on what modifications can be delivered, and when, and is always working to be a few steps ahead.

“We’ve got to be ahead of the game, especially with all the suspension stuff, for example, as the Fox coilovers are really hard to get,” said Mark. “Also, there can be delays for things like Warn winches and the custom equipment – the extras – that we offer for our Overland truck. We have to have that stuff ordered well ahead of time.

“We’ve been over there and had training at the SCA factory in Alabama,” he added. “We talk to them all the time and know how to fit all the gear. So if we get a truck from another source and need to get it done faster than can be done by it going into the SCA build line, then we can bring it straight here and put all the gear on. And that goes for the Chevy Black Widow trucks too. We fit those kits to trucks we acquire from our suppliers here.”

VIDEO: WHO IS SCA PERFORMANCE?

THE FUTURE

Ford Australia recently announced it will begin selling the F-150 through its local dealership network and while it is not one of Tough Trucks most popular models, the influx of them through official Ford channels, and the enthusiasm of owners to modify them (or buy one already modified) that will almost certainly follow, will likely see more business flow Tough Trucks way.

“We’ll acquire those F-150s locally and do exactly what we do with the Silverados and the Rams,” said Mark. “They’ll be Black Widows – our HSV-type truck – and they’ll be available if someone wants something better than the stock F-150 from the dealer. There’ll be a market there for us.”

There is also, of course, the F-150 Lightning electric truck that has just started production in the US. Ford says it has received an astonishing 200,000 reservations for the Lightning and for an electrician like Mark there is no concern about taking on trucks with this new technology.

“We’ll embrace those too,” he said. “We have an ‘expression of interest’ page on our website and have had a lot of demand on there. People want more information and have put their name down for them when they get here. I think they will be a hit. The range on them may not be ideal for everyone, but for the right people it will be a great truck.”

The automotive industry might well be heading towards a more electrified future, but the need for big, powerful trucks isn’t likely to be going anywhere soon. Businesses will need them, no matter how they are powered, and in this era in which Australians are rediscovering the delights of travelling in their own vast country, the interest in them continues to grow.

What started as the solution to a personal problem has, for Mark, grown into something pretty special.

“Back when I was doing the Rams, people would say to me, ‘Are they too big?’,” he said. “But since then, people have opened their minds to the idea. The more we saw on the road, the more people got used to them and realised they weren’t too big. These trucks really are awesome vehicles.”

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (May 2022) 

11 May 2022